Swallowed By Darkness
by Laurenhd08
Summary: She could feel the pain ripping through her body, especially where the knife had connected with her abdomen. Her thoughts quickly faded as she allowed the darkness to surround her, dragging her deeper down into the pit of blackness.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys! Don't fret I have yet to give up on my other fic, I just had a really good idea for a new one and I'm having a little trouble thinking of more writing material for 'I Swear To You'. So I hope you like this story and please review and tell me your opinions on it.

Disclaimer: I am well passed depressed to inform you all that I do not own Criminal minds or it's characters.

JJ heard the crack before she felt her head connect with the floor, she never thought that she would be in this situation. She'd always told herself that if anyone in her life tried to hurt her, that she would fight back or at least tell her team. Now here she was ten minutes after she had come home Will had her on the ground in a tremendous amount of pain, and what was worse was that this wasn't the first time. Will had been hurting her for at least three months.

At first she let it slide, he'd been going through a lot between his sister dying and her refusing to marry him for the fifth time. For the four years they had been dating, Will hadn't so much as swatted at her. Then she'd said no to another one of his fucking proposals and he had totally lost it, that night he'd beat her until she had passed out. Now it was as normal as breathing to her, she'd come home and he'd beat her until she was out cold, he made sure to stay a way from her face so her team would remain clueless towards his attacks. She was well past aware that she didn't deserve this but it was way too complicated, it had gone on for far too long now. It was much easier to endure the pain and pretend like nothing was happening, then to admit to herself and her team that she had let this happen, that she had allowed him to beat her, and that she was just as helpless and weak as one of the victims they rescued from day to day. She was always careful not to show how tired she was, or how sore, she always put on the happy blonde exterior so as not to alert her team of the damage Will was causing her.

Without even thinking about it Will let his fist connect with her face not once, not twice but three times. Shit! He was always so careful. These bruises were not going to be easy to cover up. At the very least someone was going to ask her what happened and lying to five of the most successful profilers in the country not to mention the 'all knowing' tech goddess was not going to be an easy task.

JJ let her eyes drift closed as the ringing in her ears got louder. She could feel the pain ripping through her body, especially where the knife had connected with her abdomen. Her thoughts quickly faded as she allowed the darkness to surround her, dragging her deeper down into the pit of blackness.

Emily's smile grew as she walked into the bullpen of the BAU to witness Morgan's daily routine of tormenting Reid. Derek had a huge grin plastered across his face and his eyes shone with a mischievous twinkle, where as Spencer was looking quite baffled and embarrassed.

"Well? Spill it kid, it's an easy question especially for a genius like you. Are you or aren't you?" She heard Morgan ask, all the while desperately trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"No Morgan, for the last time I am not a virgin!" Reid exclaimed a little too loudly as all eyes turned to him. Emily and Morgan burst into fits of uncontrolled laughter as the 'boy genius' let out an exasperated sigh. After Emily caught a much needed breath she made her way to the coffee machine and asked if the guys needed a refill.

"I'm gonna bring JJ a cup of coffee… err… another cup of coffee." Emily corrected herself, knowing that the blonde liason had probably already downed two. Emily walked through JJ's slightly open door.

"Hey jayje, I brought you…" Emily trailed off when she saw the large bruise on the media liason's forehead that she had obviously tried to cover up with make-up. "What the hell happened to you Jennifer?" The profiler demanded as she moved around the desk and pushed JJ's bangs out of the way so she could get a better look at the offending wound on her best friends head. JJ visibly tensed at her words and avoided all eye contact. Emily knew JJ hated being profiled, but she needed to figure out what happened to the stubborn, younger women sitting in front of her.

"Ummm… nothing, I just bumped my head on my car door." JJ dismissed lazily, but Emily could see the nervousness build up in those piercing blue eyes. "I, uh have some case files for you, one sec just let me grab them." Emily was about to let her previous interrogation slide, until she saw the bump on the back of the blondes head as she leant over to get some case files. She grabbed JJ's arm to spin her around but not before noticing her wince in pain. Emily was starting to get really worried about her friend's physical state.

"That's a bunch of bullshit Jen and you know it. So lets try this again, what happened to you?" Emily forced eye contact with JJ. She could see the pain building in her eyes and couldn't decide if it was emotional or physical.

"I-I can't," JJ started to speak but she couldn't help stuttering. She hated looking weak, but it wasn't so bad in front of Emily she just didn't want to bring her into this. "Look Em, I c-can't talk about this now I have to distribute these files." She knew it was a lame excuse but she needed to compose herself. Emily studied her face cautiously before removing her hand from its place on JJ's forehead.

"Fine but I'm not leaving until I get an explanation to why it looks like you've been brutally attacked. So you go distribute those files and I'm gonna wait here." Emily stated firmly, not willing to let this one slide.

JJ gave Emily a pained look but nodded her head in agreement and left her office. Emily took the alone time to brace herself for the on-coming information; she had a gut feeling that she wasn't going to like it. She was pulled out of her thoughts when JJ's phone rang, she answered it but before she had a chance to announce to the caller who he was speaking with, Will's yells filled the room.

"You little dyke! Did you think I wouldn't find out? I read all of your fucking e-mails to that bitch of a computer tech! Really, Emily Prentiss? You're in love with that whore Emily Prentiss?"

A/N: So there you have it. Hoped you liked my first chapter, please feel free to comment and critique. Also if you have any ideas for 'I Swear To You' I'm happy to hear them!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sup' my loyal reviewers? Thank-you all for the marvelous comments and alerts, that's the kind of motivation that keeps me going! So anyway, without further ado here's the second chapter, hope it's worth the wait.

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed for the better so I still seize to own Criminal Minds.

Emily stood shell shocked while Will's loud and irritant voice continued to scream through the receiver. Had he just seriously informed her that Jennifer Jareau, her beautiful, intelligent, supposedly straight best friend, loved her? Emily felt her heart beat pick up and a smile form on her face. She had been head over heals in love with the breath taking blonde for at least a year now, so the fact that JJ was just as strung made her feel like she was about to burst. Before her excitement could completely over take her she tuned into Will on the other end of the phone.

"You think last night was bad bitch? Wait til' you get home! I'm gonna beat you until the only coherent thoughts running through your mind are of me, and how much pain you're in!" With that the line was dead, and all of Emily's past excitement was drained from her body as if someone had just pulled the plug. She felt her vision turn red and white with furry, and she had to lean against JJ's desk to stop the room from spinning. She chuckled humorlessly to herself as she thought of what she'd say to Will when her gun was at his head, and her foot made contact with his groin, she was about to go turn her fantasy into reality but as she turned around, a very scarred JJ was standing impossibly still in the doorway.

JJ felt as if she was about to pass out from the pain of the emotional blow she had just suffered. Not only had Will found out that she was hopelessly in love with her best friend, but so had said object of her infection, not to mention the fact that she was also just informed that her boyfriend was beating her at home. The blonde felt her knees give way under her, all the secrets that she had been working so hard on concealing for months, had just been prominently displayed in the course of an hour. Not to mention the amount of physical pain she was in, she couldn't take all of this right now, not after Will had just beat her senseless.

"Em… it's just…and you're so… and with the whole… I-I, and with me and Will… b-but…" JJ knew she had to speak to Emily, to tell her the truth, but she couldn't form coherent words at the moment. Never the less, the brunette made her way to her side and actively shut her up as she knelt down and let her lips cascade over the blondes'.

"I love you." Emily said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and she had said it many times before. "I love the way you chew your lip when you get nervous, I love how you purse your lips when you're deep in thought, I love how you put yourself last and always try to console and care for others. I love you." Emily repeated her new favorite phrase, when you thought about it 'I love you' really did say it all. She watched as the terror that had once been spread across JJ"s face, slowly started to vanish and was replaced with a breath taking smile and a quirked eye brow.

"If you're messing with me Prentiss, I swear to god that I will pop a bullet up your ass." JJ replied, her eye brow still quirked as she awaited Emily's response. Emily pulled her into a deep kiss and that was all that JJ needed, she let her lips collide with Emily's both of them battling for dominance. The brunette's tongue slid across JJ's lips, begging to allow her to deepen the sensational kiss and the blonde granted it to her within a second. The two rose from their uncomfortable kneeling position without breaking the passionate kiss, but as Emily backed the blonde into the door, she was on her knees again, this time in physical pain

JJ could feel ripples of pain shooting through her back where Will's knife had connected. Her sight became blurry and the room span quickly. She could barely concentrate on Emily calling her name, and the details around her, everything was out of focus. The blonde could feel her overly stressful morning catching up with her mind, as well as the previous night's worth of pain Will had caused her. She allowed her self to slip into an aura of darkness; anything to escape the pain.

"Jayje sweetie, look at me. Don't close those beautiful eyes, I need you to stay awake for me Jen." Emily tried to keep her composure as her best friend slowly started to lose consciousness but reasoning with the blonde was quite difficult. In the end it was no use JJ's eyes drifted close, leaving Emily feeling cold and alone.

A/N: I must apologize to all my faithful reviewers for such a long wait I've been quite busy. Anyway I know it's short but there will be more to come soon if I get some reviews from you people. As always I enjoy your ideas so if you have any advice or plot lines and ideas for my stories, I would be delighted to hear them!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okie dokie, so most of you must be pretty pissed at me for leavin' you hangin' so long. Hehe. Well there is no justifiable excuse but I have been working on writing an actual book and so far it's going pretty well so you can imagine my excitement! Alright so I do apologize for the long wait and I'd like to express my excitement of Paget and AJ rejoining our lovely cast! So here's the chapter I've kept from you all for 3 months, hope you love it.

Disclaimer: Alas as much as I wish criminal minds and its characters were mine to do with as I may… they're not. So on a slightly more depressing note on my part here's my chapter.

Emily was baffled. She had no idea how to handle this situation. One minute the women she's in love with is making her feel sensations she's never felt before, and the next she's on the ground out cold. She didn't know if she had to get her to the hospital or not. If she was in any tremendous amount of trouble she wouldn't have passed out twelve hours after the assault and she probably didn't want any of the team to know, which would be inevitable if she called an ambulance. Plus she did have her own knowledge of medical training so she could probably handle this within JJ's office, but she may need some assistance. But who?

JJ would freak if she told Hotch. Penelope and Derek would coddle her when she woke up and then Morgan would go kick Will's ass and she wanted to do that herself. That left Reid and Rossi and seeing as Reid was a doctor she decided he'd be the smartest decision.

She lifted JJ to the couch, careful not to brush one of her many wounds and made sure her head was supported by a pillow. Emily was worried shitless but she knew the hospital was not the right approach to make right now so she headed towards the bathroom to get a cool cloth for JJ's forehead. After dampening a cloth with cold water she made her way to JJ's office and signaled Reid with a 'come now, ask questions later' look, which he did so prominently.

Upon entering the blonde's office Reid's heart stopped as he looked at the motionless and battered form of JJ. What had happened? Why wasn't Emily saying anything? Should he go inform Hotch right away? Why hadn't Prentiss done so already? All these questions buzzed through his mind at a Reid-like speed, but his face portrayed none of these thoughts as his heart rate started back up again and he made his way over to the media liason. Obviously Emily had a reason for being so quiet and only calling him in here so he decided his questions could wait.

"Have you evaluated her injuries" The youngest member of the team asked, slipping into doctor mode. Emily gave him a relieved look, probably because he hadn't pounced right in with questions, and then turned back to JJ.

"Yes it's nothing major. Some serious bruises, two knife wounds that look like they've been bandaged professionally, and minor head trauma." Emily replied after a moment, should she tell Reid? No she'd let JJ tell the team on her own accord it was her life, besides she wanted to go deal with the jack ass who had caused this mess in the first place.

"Reid, jayje will explain everything to you in her own time, for now please respect her privacy and my judgment call and keep quiet. I have to go deal with a few things, I need you to watch her until I get back okay?" Reid just nodded in awe at the tone of control in her voice.

Lost in her own thoughts of how she was going to handle things with Will she hadn't even noticed that she had mindlessly completed the half hour drive to JJ's and was already at the door to her condo with her gun drawn. She let herself slip into agent mode and knocked on the door. When no answer came she used her spare key and slipped quietly into the apartment.

Clearing each room, she was slightly disappointed at the lack of Will until she heard the unmistakable cock of a gun and then felt cool metal against the back of her head.

"YOU BITCH!" Will was obviously well past drunk, "you think you can just waltz in my apartment, take my girlfriend, and threaten me with a gun?" He demanded.

"I'm just guessing here Will, but I REALLY don't think she's your girlfriend anymore." Emily replied, determined to have the last word, even if it was in fact her last word.

"Yeah, well she won't be yours either you little whore!" Will screamed and the sound of a bullet connecting with skin could be heard from across the hall.

A/N: So there's your chapter my oh so fateful reviewers! Tell me whatcha think. And I'd like to thank Honorcpt for the little push ;)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: OKAY, HOW MANY OF YOU GUYS ARE EXTATIC FOR CRIMINAL MINDS? 11 DAYSSSS! Alright so once again your reviews brought my quirky albeit annoying self a tremendous amount of joy! Especially mcleagan :DDDD Your review made my day and I'm super super sorry I couldn't update really quickly for you but with the whole starting of classes thing I was pretty busy, oh and ready for this… I LOVE YOU TOO! I love all of you guys and thanks so much for being soooooo patient. Anyway I'll wrap this up now and give you the chapter you've been waiting for.

Emily's ears rung as she heard the gunshot blow and waited for the darkness to overtake her body, but it didn't come. She watched as Will's body seemed to fall in slow motion and she heard the thud that echoed through JJ's condo as his corpse hit the floor. She turned swiftly to see if the shot had come from an impending attacker or a life saver and quickly realized it was the latter.

The brunette drew nearer to the love of her life and watched as the look of shock that had been displayed on the media liaisons' face turned to one of horror and then devastation. Her gun clattered to the floor as she fell to her knees, her hand instantly going to her mouth. Emily completely understood, as much as she hated to admit it. It was one thing to kill a person, but to kill a person you knew and were once close with, who you came home to everyday and who you were in a relationship with.

"Oh my god," was JJ's response "oh my god, oh my god!" Emily was quick to get on the same level as the blonde and envelope her in her strong arms. JJ wanted so bad just to melt into Emily's arms and stay there forever, but after a minute she quickly drew back and wiped the emotion off her face. She received a worried expression from the profiler.

"I'm fine." She replied by way of explanation and Emily instantly knew the tactic her best friend was trying to pull, it was THE tactic that JJ always retreated to prior to a traumatic incident. JJ hated it when people coddled her and worried about her so she'd instantly pull a poker face and switch the spotlight, making sure everyone else was okay and then ignoring her own pain until it just burst out. No, Emily wasn't doing this with her, not this time after just shooting her boyfriend.

"Uh-uh, nope, we're not going down this road Jen, it's not happening." Was the reply of the queen of compartmentalization. "You just shot your boyfriend!" Emily was very confused as to why the younger agent would try using the JJ tactic for something this huge.

"It's no big deal Em, it's not like I had a choice. He was an abusive bastard anyway, crying over him wouldn't make any sense. H-he doesn't deserve it" JJ's voice cracked and a tear rolled down her cheek. She rubbed it away harshly and a look of frustration came across her face.

"Jayje look at me. You have every right to cry over him! I'm now highly and greatfully aware that you're in love with me, but you loved him too. Maybe not in the same way and although I think he was dirt and he didn't even deserve to look at you, you deserve to be able to be sad that he's dead." Emily replied, angry that Will was ruining yet another thing for JJ.

"He's not just dead Emily, I killed him!" JJ said as she broke down again, this time in tears of frustration.

"Hey! You just saved my life. You were justified in every way, shape and form to kill him and you know that. I don't think you should stay here any longer. Not with him here. You go pack your clothes and stuff , I'll call Hotch and tell him everything, we'll get you cleaned up at my place, then, if you're up to it we'll talk. Is that okay with you?" the blonde nodded still in a days and made her way to her bedroom.

This was going to be a long day.

A/n: Alrighty reviewers! Do what you reviewer do and… well… please review! Tell me what you thing of the chapter and be sure to give me your ideas!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Wait, what's this? Two chapters in one day? Wow I'm cool! Alrighty reviewers here is… THE TALK! DUN DUN DUN DAAAAAAA!

"Hotchner." Emily froze when she heard her boss's voice over the phone. What the hell was she supposed to tell him? Everything? Would JJ mind? The brunette had told her that she was going to call Hotch and tell him everything and the blonde had just nodded and walked away but Emily didn't even know if JJ had heard a thing that she'd said. But was there really another option? When Emily didn't think of one she replied to the stoic greeting.

"Hey Hotch." The profiler started the conversation out casually, there was no reason for worrying her boss straight away. She knew Hotch and JJ had a different dynamic than the rest of the team, JJ had always been his right hand man.

"Prentiss? Where the hell are you? I've been trying to reach you and JJ for the last hour, Morgan's on his way to JJ's place and Dave's just about to head to your's. What's going on, and why isn't Reid telling me anything? He just said that you went to 'take care of something' and JJ was quick to run after you." Hotch said in a frustrated tone. He had obviously been worried.

"Tell Rossi it's not necessary, JJ and I are fine and we're at her condo. We'll fill Morgan in when he gets here and Reid's clamped up because I told him to be." Emily answered all of the normally expressionless mans' inquiries, wanting to just get everything out of the way so that she could inform Hotch what had happened. "I need you to listen to me for a minute and for you to not do any conclusion jumping until I'm finished okay?" The brunette asked, knowing she was just about to drop a bomb shell on him.

"Emily, what the hell is going on?" Hotch demanded, his once somber tone turning into one of worry. The profiler explained everything quickly and then listened to the silence at the other end of the line for what felt like an hour until her boss went on a tangent of questions asking if they were both okay, and how was JJ's stability at the moment. After Emily answered his questions as best as she could, Hotch told her he'd call Morgan and tell him to come back and that he'd take care of everything and he'd inform the team of the events that had transpired. He gave them the next two weeks off and told her too look after JJ's physical and mental injuries. He then wished her good luck and hung up.

JJ stood in the door way staring into the bedroom she had once shared with Will. Her daze had not been broken and she was yet to process everything. Aside from the tremendous amount of physical pain she was experiencing, the blonde felt numb as she looked at one of the shirts that Will had just discarded on a random chair in the room. She jumped when she felt a light tap on the shoulder and quickly turned to see her favorite brunette.

"Why don't you go wait in the living room and I'll pack your bag, I shouldn't have told you to come back in here anyway. I'll be out in a minute and then we can head to my place alright?" Emily was making sure to ask the younger agent if what she said was okay with her but at the same time she was trying to make sure that JJ didn't feel like she was being degrading.

"I'm not derailed Em, I can still function" JJ muttered as she turned to walk to the living room.

"Jen no one is saying you're derailed, but I don't think it's a good idea to be standing in the room you shared with Will, do you? Besides I saw you limping earlier and I heard the sharp intake of breath when you stood up quickly earlier, I know you must feel like shit." Emily reprimanded and when the blonde didn't argue further a victory smirk played across her features.

The rest of the evening went by slowly but they finally got to the brunette's apartment. After JJ got a shower and Emily tended to her newly reopened knife wound and the rest of her injuries, they found themselves sat in the living room in a comfortable silence. Emily sat behind JJ rubbing her shoulders and massaging other injured areas, while the blonde tended to the ice pack that was now positioned on her left ankle.

"Em?" JJ started. She wanted to know where this was going and get her mind off the day she had just had. "I love you, and I want to be with you. You're my best friend (aside from Garcia), but is this what you really want right now? I mean I'm gonna be a lot to handle for a little while and I don't want you to feel like that's your responsibility, you've already been the most patient, supportive person ever and you don't owe me anything." JJ assured the brunette expressing the gratitude she felt towards her for letting her stay with her.

"Jayje, you're here because I want you to be, not because I feel like I have to have you here. I'll always feel like you're my responsibility because I love you and again, I want you to be. This is the only thing I want right now, I want you, and I want to be there for you and help you get better physically, as much as you want to deny it, emotionally. We're in this together got it?" Emily assured the blonde, making sure to speak from her heart.

JJ answered with a kiss and they continued to talk about random things, deciding that they'd try and forget about the day for now. Emily couldn't help but feel at peace with JJ in her arms as she turned on the tv and the watched Buffy the vampire slayer.

A/n: Sooooooo….yeah… tell me what you think my royal subjects!


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